Roger Daltrey -

Roger Daltrey (born March 1, 1944) is an English vocalist from Hammersmith, known internationally as the frontman of The Who for more than 55 years. He began his performing career in 1962 when he co-founded The Detours, a pre-beat combo that first recorded as the High Numbers before settling on the Who nameplate in 1965. The band would ultimately release 10 studio albums during the ensuing 17-year period, including two operatic double-albums.

While the band was active, Daltery released three proper solo albums on Track and Polydor between 1973 and 1977. He also featured on the soundtracks of three movies in which he played titular characters: Tommy (1975), based on the Who’s 1969 four-sided rock opera; Litzomania (1975), a musical dramatization of the life of 19th century classical composer Franz Liszt; and McVicar (1980), about the namesake former criminal. The last of those yielded a hit for the singer with the Russ Ballard-composed “Free Me.” After the Who’s first “farewell” tour in 1982, Daltery released four further solo albums on Atlantic between 1984 and 1992.

Daltery debuted as a solo singer with a surnamesake album on Track Record in 1973, produced by pre-Beatles U.K. pop idol Adam Faith. The material was primarily written by the team of David Courtney and Leo Sayer, including two songs (“One Man Band” and “Giving It All Away”) that Sayer himself would record for his 1974 sophomoric release Just a Boy. Instrumentation on the album was provided by members of Argent with violin on one track courtesy of Dave Arbus (East of Eden), who also features on the Who staple “Bargain.”

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